Lord Mayor welcomes ‘Singing City’ to Belfast

Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Tom Ekin has officially welcomed one of America’s premier choirs, ‘Singing City’, to Belfast.

The 100-strong choir will be showcasing its world-class talent on its début Northern Ireland tour, which starts at the Ulster Hall on Saturday evening.

Founded in Philadelphia as America’s first integrated choir in 1948, ‘Singing City’ is made up of a wide variety of people encapsulating the diversity of race, cultures and belief present in modern society. Their major goal is to unite people through a shared love of music. The singers all have a wide variety of stories to tell of their involvement in the Choir.

Choir director, Jeffrey Brillhart, said that, having performed all over the world over the course of the last 50 years, and with the likes of Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta and Dave Brubeck, they were excited about their first visit to Northern Ireland.

“The one thing that unites us all, performers, audiences and conductors alike, is our shared love of music and the enjoyment it brings to us all regardless of background," Mr Brillhart said. "We are really looking forward to our tour of Northern Ireland, especially with its world famous reputation for its music, both modern and traditional, and to performing alongside the many guests who will join us on the tour.”

‘Singing City’ were formally welcomed to Northern Ireland by the Lord Mayor at a special reception in the City Hall. After the reception, the choir gave a preview of their forthcoming concert tour with a short performance under the City Hall’s dome.

Tickets for Saturday's show are currently on sale at the cost of £6 and will be available at the door on the evening.

(MB)